Springtime Flowers Party (sponsored by Cricut) Reveal

A little over a year ago, I hosted a little shindig in honor of (and sponsored by) the kind folks at Cricut and their new machine, the Explore. Unfortunately, I didn't snap a lot of pictures during the party, but couldn't resist taking a few after it was over. Life goes on, and those pictures have sat on my memory card for a a year in hopes that I would have the time to put together a little tutorial before sharing.

I am still in love with these paper flower arrangements-they totally made the cut for keeping around in the party closet! I made everything using the Explore, but all of it utilizes basic shapes, so don't despair-no machine needed! Although, I must say, having the machine saved me from some major hand cramping.

A handy tip I discovered when using paper flowers, is to fill the container you're using with sand. It holds the paper upright and keeps everything in place really nicely.

For the flowers: I used this tutorial, which uses a million little circles (here is where a Cricut comes in handy!). I wanted something different than glitter in the center, so I pushed a small dowel through the middle and added a wooden knob on the end that I have painted yellow using acrylic craft paint.

For the paper succulents: I used this tutorial with my own drawn shape.

For the snake plants: Cut various sizes of a long leaf shape out of green card stock. Fold each leaf in half to give it dimension.

For the yellow craspedia: Paint wooden knobs from the craft store yellow and place on the end of plant stakes or small dowels.

Thank you Cricut for such a nice time!

DIY Woven Chair Seat

Now that we're finally in our house, I have been in some sort of creative overdrive mode. Finding a way to make our stuff fit into a new space well always puts me into a problem solving state, which, of course, leads to a long list of projects.

This rocking chair is a great example...I still love the shape of this Ikea gem, but honestly it hasn't gotten much use since our apartment days in California. I hated the print of the cushions, but they're still in great shape. I will probably update the covers someday soon using this site, but for now I wanted a quick way to update the chair so it could be functional as a reading chair in Jack's room instead of being banished to the garage.

I love the look of wooden furniture with the contrast of a neutral woven fabric seat. I found this great tutorial from one of my fave DIY-ers, Matt from Wood & Faulk and remembered that I had two rolls of industrial grade felt sitting in a box just waiting to be used! If I had leather strips on hand I would definitely be using those, but I love the soft look and feel of the felt too (and, hey, free!).

The process was very simple and the whole project took less than two hours. The only thing I did differently than the tutorial was to use a staple gun instead of upholstery tacks to attach the strips of felt to the frame. I wasn't having a lot of success in nailing the tacks in, and the staple gun ended up being a quick solution. This would be an amazing update or fix for any furniture that has a wood frame and a variety of materials could be used. I don't think I'll look at broken garage sale chairs the same now!

I can't wait to snap a pic of Jack's room and show the chair in its new home!

Have you made anything to update your home lately? I would love to hear about it!

Easy Side Tables

Today I wanted to share a simple and quick idea for a side table. First off, I am a huge fan of small, low tables in almost every room of the house. They make great plant stands, night stands, drink tables for the end of the couch, or even compact tables for play in a child's room....

I recently purchased these super cute powder-coated steel toy bins from Target. After living with them for a while, I realized that when flipped over they make great, sturdy bases for a small table top. To make the top, I purchased two wooden rounds that were sanded and ready to stain from Home Depot (similar to these). I stained the table tops with a stain + sealer in one made by Cabot. I chose the dark "midnight" color, but they had many other options. Two coats in one afternoon and they were ready to go!

Since we will be using these tables in our bedroom, and I wanted to retain the option of using the bins as actual bins later, I opted to not officially attach the tabletops to the bases. The tops are quite heavy and don't shift around a lot. If you plan on using these tables in a high traffic area though, I suggest attaching them from underneath with hardware.

Crossing my fingers I will officially have a home to put these in soon!

Glitzy Pineapple Tote.

I hope the signs of summer are starting to show up where you are. We've been spoiled with some pretty beautiful days lately, and it's put me in the mood for BBQ's, trips to the beach, and ice cream trucks.

I'm always on the lookout for big roomy totes, because even though there are at least 10 in my closet I can never have enough. They really come in handy this time of year from swim lessons to road trips.

I ran across some large, sturdy totes at the craft store the other day and snatched them up. When it came to making the bags something special, I had a little help. You may be wondering how on earth I cut out all of those little dots out of iron on-but the truth is I didn't! Not by myself anyway....

A few months ago, I flew out early to the Alt conference and was introduced to a new product: the Cricut Explore. I am typically wary of owning too many craft tools/machines and really prefer to do things myself. I haven't had a huge need for the previous models of the Cricut, as they didn't allow for original designs and required too much commitment and ongoing purchasing of accessories to use.

However, I was blown away by this new product! Have you heard about it? The new cutting machine plugs right into your computer (no extra software needed), where you can upload and cut original designs (like my pineapple), or choose from TONS of projects designed by someone else, which can be accessed right from the design space/website.

I finally got mine out of  the box and started playing with it, and now I'm hooked! I am not easily hooked, so it's kind of a big deal. Did I mention it can even write with a pen and cut fabric? You really need to take a look.

For this project, I designed a pineapple, uploaded it to the website, set my machine to cut iron-on, loaded gold iron-on into the machine and hit GO. Once the pineapple is cut, slowly remove the negative space of iron on material, flip over, and iron on to the bag. That's it. SO easy, and it looks so luxe.

If you already have an explore, you can download my file here! Stay tuned this week for more ideas...

Do you have a crafting tool you can't live without?

Make it: Simple Brass Necklace

For the last few seasons, I've been really drawn to simple and understated jewelry. It adds an elegant touch to both colorful and classic outfits, doesn't it? While there are plenty of talented shops and makers to choose from out there (try etsy keyword: minimalist jewelry), I like to try my hand at making things myself from time to time.

As you know, brass tubing has become a favorite material around here (remember this, and this?) and is easy to find in the model building section of Hobby Lobby and other craft stores.

All you need to make this modern necklace is....(1) piece of 3/32 brass tubing, a 30" thin gold chain necklace, a tubing cutter (found next to the tubing in most stores), ruler, sharpie, and needle nose pliers.

measure: using ruler, measure 3" on your brass tube and mark with the sharpie (for a more dainty necklace, go with a shorter cut).

cut: slide brass tube into tube cutter and cut (detailed instructions here).

repeat: repeat steps one and two to make a second piece.

remove: use needle nose pliers to open the jump ring and remove the lobster clasp from your necklace (hold one side of jump ring with thumb and forefinger of one hand, and use pliers to gently pull other side forward or back, do not pull side straight out as this will ruin the shape of the ring). Set both the jump ring and lobster clasp aside.

assemble: slide both pieces of brass tubing onto your necklace, bringing to the center of the chain. If it's a tight fit (mine was), use pliers to gently pull chain through tubing.

finish: slide jump ring back on to the end of your chain, add lobster clasp and close back up using your pliers to pull the ring back together.

Apparently I look pretty ticked off when I attempt a serious face in photos-ha! Happy necklace making friends!

xo,
Randi

Girls Room Mini Makeover

A few months ago we performed a little facelift on the girls shared bedroom. The room had been put on the back burner since we moved in nearly two years ago. The week before mid-winter break, I woke up and decided the powdery purple clad walls had to go. A few hours of sweatin' and workin' over break made a huge difference! Here's a peek at what the room looked like before:

This before pic is totally enhanced by graininess and bad lighting, but trust me, even in the best of light, that purple was not good. There were a few issues I wanted to tackle in the room: wall color, plain boring beds, strange celestial light fixture, and storage issues/clutter.

And now, the glorified after shot...

We painted the walls a fresh white, painted the beds in glossy black, made a few pillows, purchased and installed a new light fixture, and added more storage and a few accessories too! Of course once we finished the walls, we realized all of the doors were not actually white (as they had appeared next to the purple), but a very pinkish off white. Try to look past those for now mmmkay?

Here are a few shots of the wall opposite of the beds:

New artwork purchased and framed!

New laundry basket and cabinet. We also re-purposed our old mobile by tying it to a branch and hanging it on the wall. Find instructions for the mobile here.

Remember these rolling carts we made? They got a fresh coat of paint and were filled with little suitcases to hold treasures (purchased as part of Christmas last year). To keep clutter at bay, we've instituted a new rule: if it doesn't fit in your crate/suitcases it goes into the playroom. Every few weeks we have to trim the amount of "treasures" in the crates so things don't get out of control. This has been working so well and the crates easily roll into the closet for an extra clean look (or to keep special things away from a spazzy little brother).

A few of the details up close:

Two coats of glossy black paint transformed these Ikea beds with little cost or time.

New pillowcases, pretty craspedia, and a brass horse I found at a local vintage shop. I found this yellow fabric last year and my MIL turned them into custom curtains for me. I love using yellow to break up all the pink, and the pops of gold in the throw pillows and horse really class things up.

These lovely pieces are still in the room and hang next to the closet.

A vintage rattan suitcase masks a growing my little pony collection, and a few favorite books sit on the dresser (the rest are in the playroom).

We still need to purchase a new table lamp, a rug (I've got my eye on this one), and actual white duvet covers (these are just the down inserts), and if we weren't moving in a month, you better believe I would be painting those doors this week! It's a little bittersweet to leave this room after updating it, but thankfully most of the stuff we finished gets to come with us.

Did I tell you our next house is a total fixer upper? Be prepared for a lot more of this!

Resource Breakdown (click on links):

Walls: Behr Pot of Cream

Beds: Ikea Fjellse
Paint-Behr Raven Black
Sham Fabric-Dry Goods Design
Throw Pillow Fabric-Dry Goods Design
Embroidered Pillow Cases: my Grandma (thanks Gram!)

Light fixture-Lowes

Rolling Carts:
Paint-Glidden Duo Light Sandstone
Crates-Michaels
Casters/screws-Lowes

Large framed art:
Print- DC* Studio Harvest Poster
Custom framing-Michaels

Cabinet-thrifted
Hamper-Cost Plus 
Pink Vase-Ikea
Brass horse/rattan suitcase-thrifted
Metal stool- thrifted
Stacking suitcases- Land of Nod (on sale right now!)

Two art pieces by closet:
-All the Little Ponies by Kiki and Polly
-Ice Cream Print by Magalerie

Air Plant Teacher Gifts

It's that time of year again-time to show teacher's a little appreciation. Flowers and plants always make nice gifts, so we set out to our favorite flower shop the other day in search of the perfect thing. I stumbled upon the air plant section and fell in love! I'm sure you know about these wonders by now, but they only require indirect sunlight (hello dark classroom) and light misting once a week. Plus, without the need of potting soil, you can put these guys just about anywhere.

We chose to put ours in tiny terracotta pots, and they turned out so cute that I wish I would've bought extra for myself! These would also make amazing party or wedding favors. Other ideas for vessels would be tiny spice jars, shells, tins, and small terrariums.

I whipped up a little tag that we printed on to full sheet labels, cut out, and wrapped around wooden sticks as a flag (you could also use toothpicks, popsicle sticks, or cake pop sticks). We wrote thank you on the back and the girls signed their names.

You can download our tag here and use it for any plant gift you have up your sleeve!

DIY Printable Springtime Masks

Remember our fun printable bunny masks from last year? We decided to make them again this year, but thought Mr. Bunny might want a little friend too!

Find the templates for this simple springtime craft over at playful learning today...

Happy paper crafting!

Whip Up Wednesday: Cheery Gift Tags for Spring

Raise your hand if you're ready for spring! Things are still cold here, but trees are blooming anyway. Despite Seattle's best attempt otherwise, I am all about jumping into spring and leaving winter behind as quick as I can. It's in that hopeful spirit that I offer these sweet little gift tags.

Attach them to treats, gifts, or my favorite-potted plants, and spread the spring cheer!

Download springy gift tags here.

Whip Up Wednesday: Galaxy Inspired Napkins

We don't always use formal dinner napkins when guests come over, but I do love to have some on hand for times when we're feeling fancy. I've fallen in love with the concept of hand dyed/hand painted of fabric lately (especially from here!). Mix that in with a strong desire for happy, springy colors and you get these galaxy inspired, hand painted napkins.

These beauties pair nicely with a crisp, modern table scape, and are so subtle and pretty in real life! I had some linen left over from a project, and wanted to make at least six of these, so I made them in a smaller, cocktail-ish size, but the same technique I used can be applied to a larger cotton napkin as well.

Want to make a few of your own? Find all of the details after the jump...

Whip Up Wednesday: DIY Doll Wardrobe

This past Christmas we descended into the land of the American Girl doll. I don't know how long the phase will last, but we have started to acquire clothes and accessories. In redoing my girls shared room, one of my goals has been to have a place for everything. This can be a challenge with all of the little stuff that little people like to collect, but a battle worth fighting. We only have a few little outfits for each doll (lovingly made by my talented MIL), but there are more in our future, I'm sure.

I decided that each girl needed a little closet for their doll clothes. These closets don't fit a lot in them, but they are a great solution as I wait to see how serious we're going to be with this collection!

Want to make a little closet of your own? Here's what you need:

A wooden crate or box (I found these half crates at Michaels for a great price!)
A dowel (1/2 " or smaller), cut to fit the width of your closet
Wood glue
A drill and drill bit the same size as your dowel
2 nails/hammer

1. Using drill and drill bit, make a hole in one side of your crate about an inch from the top (you can determine the best placement based on the shape/size of your crate). Repeat step on other side of crate (measuring to make sure the holes line up!).

2. Put your dowel through one side of crate, stopping when it's halfway through. Put a spot of wood glue on each end and push into place.

3. To secure dowel into place, choose a nail that is long enough to go through the front of the crate and through the dowel. Drill a hole where the nail will be placed, through the front of crate and dowel (about 3/4 of the length of nail). Hammer nail into place and you're done!

Whip Up Wednesday: Paper Fan Night Light

Those who follow my adventures on Instagram know that we are in the midst of doing a facelift on my girls shared room right now (find me on there, let's be friends! @swoonstudio). Things are coming along and I am hoping to reveal the final product of our hard work early next week! When it comes to creating projects for the home or parties, I always look around at what I have on hand first. I wanted a cute night light for the room, but didn't want to spend a fortune, so I scoured the rest of my house for some inspiration...

I ended up landing on these small paper fans we used over the holidays. They were only a few dollars at Party City and have held up very well after two uses. All you need to turn one into an adorable night light is a pair of scissors, a hot glue gun, and a LED night light.

First, cut the ends of the fan down so they are even with the bottom of the fan and less noticeable. Heat up your glue gun and glue the fan ends together with a small amount of glue so the fan will stay permanently open.

Turn fan over and flatten the bottom middle out a little bit. Remove the cover from the night light and run a line of hot glue right down the middle of the front. Flip over and center it over the bottom of the fan. Slip the cover back on the light, plug in and enjoy!

 An adorable, original night light for about $5?  Yes please!